- Spain allocated €340 million to support Casablanca’s seawater desalination plant, set to be the largest in Africa.
- A consortium is building the €887 million plant, which will use renewable energy to supply desalinated water to 7.5 million people.
The Spanish government has confirmed the allocation of €340 million (around 3.5 billion Moroccan dirhams) to support the construction of a major seawater desalination plant in Casablanca. Officials said the project, once completed, would be the largest on the African continent. The first phase is scheduled for completion by February 2027.
Authorities reported that a consortium led by the Spanish firm Acciona and Moroccan companies Afriquia Gaz and Green of Africa, both subsidiaries of the Acwa Group, is executing the project. They estimated the total cost to be €887 million (more than 9.75 billion dirhams) and said the plant would supply desalinated water to around 7.5 million people.
Spain’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism explained that the €340 million contribution includes three key funding mechanisms. The Spanish Enterprise Internationalisation Fund (FIEM) provides a €250 million loan for design, construction, and operation. The Spanish Export Credit Agency (Cesce) offers up to 80% credit coverage for a separate €70 million loan. Additionally, the Spanish Foreign Investment Fund (FIEX) is contributing €31 million towards Acciona’s equity share in the project.
Spanish and Moroccan officials announced the funding during a signing ceremony held in Casablanca. Spain’s State Secretary for Trade, Amparo López Senovilla, and Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, attended the event.
López Senovilla described the desalination initiative as “structural, ambitious, and strategically important”. She highlighted the integration of innovative technologies and water resource management and pointed out that the plant would rely on renewable energy. According to the Spanish news agency EFE, she reaffirmed Spain’s ongoing support for Morocco’s infrastructure modernisation efforts.
Minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui called the Casablanca desalination facility “one of the flagship projects” of Morocco’s national water strategy. She said the government aims to increase the country’s annual desalinated water output from 320 million cubic metres to 1.7 billion cubic metres by 2030.
The plant is under construction in the coastal commune of Lamharza, in El Jadida Province. The Moroccan government launched the project last June, with Crown Prince Moulay Hassan presiding over the ceremony.
According to Acciona, the project has already reached 20% completion. Company representatives stated that the first phase would provide 548,000 cubic metres of daily drinking water by February 2027. They added that a second phase, scheduled for August 2028, would increase daily production by another 274,000 cubic metres, bringing the total to 822,000 cubic metres daily.